An imprisoned member of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot announces a hunger strike after being refused the right to attend her own parole hearing.

Iran's President Ahmadinejad says he will contest the disqualification of his ally Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei from next month's presidential poll.

It is confirmed that Sharon Osbourne will return as a judge in 2013, alongside Gary Barlow, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen says a suicide in Notre-Dame Cathedral was "political", in a remark condemned by the ruling party.

At least 10 people die and 70 are wounded in four days of Syria-linked sectarian violence in the Lebanese city of Tripoli.

Venezuela's National Assembly backs plans to import 39 million rolls of toilet paper, in an effort to relieve a chronic shortage.

Sony says it will consider a proposal from one of its biggest shareholders that it should spin off up to 20% of its entertainment business.

A rare first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone with annotations and drawings by JK Rowling sells for a record £150,000.

Is the English language conquering France?

Japan's parliament votes to adopt an international treaty on cross-border child custody disputes, after years of pressure from the West.

Rioters light fires and stone emergency services in the suburbs of the Swedish capital Stockholm for the third night running after a police shooting death.

Striker Carlton Cole will leave West Ham United this summer after the club decided not to renew his contract.

Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange, which trades commodities, is being probed by the police and market regulators over alleged financial irregularities.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg promise that the coalition will continue up until polling day in the 2015 general election.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a special envoy to Beijing, state media announces, amid cooling relations after weeks of tension.

German software company SAP says it hopes to recruit hundreds of people with autism, saying they have a unique talent for information technology.

Trevor Bolder, the bassist in David Bowie's legendary 1970s backing band Spiders From Mars, dies from cancer at the age of 62.

A stocktake of UK nature suggests 60% of animal and plant species have declined in the past 50 years - and one in 10 could end up disappearing.

A row has erupted involving Russia and Azerbaijan over the Eurovision song contest.